


Epicentre

by Acaeria



Series: Lola's Guide to the World [1]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alternate Universe - Transcendence, Gen, Reincarnation, some mentions of death but nothing major
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-09
Updated: 2015-10-09
Packaged: 2018-04-25 15:22:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4966111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Acaeria/pseuds/Acaeria
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lola goes to visit her sister Char in Gravity Falls, Oregon, USA, and ends up befriending Alcor the Dreambender.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Epicentre

**Author's Note:**

> ... I have an intense love of the Transcendence AU. However, I don't think I've ever seen a reincarnated Willow story, so I decided to write one. I hope I managed to do okay.

“Lola, are you listening to me?” Lola blinked at her mother in the rearview mirror from the back seat and nodded. In truth, she’d been worlds away, thinking of something she couldn’t even remember, but she wasn’t going to let her mother know that.

“Yeah, Mum,” she said, nodding for her to continue. Her mother pursed her lips but did not press the issue further.

“Are you mad at me?” she asked after a few minutes of silence, taking Lola by surprise.

“What?” she asked in confusion. Her mother sighed.

“For sending you to stay with your sister. I mean, you haven’t seen her in years, I’m afraid…” Lola shook her head.

“No, Mum, no! I’m looking forward to it actually. It’ll be nice to see Char again.” Her mother nodded, looking relieved.

“Well, as long as you don’t mind…”

“Not at all, honest,” Lola told her mother, and the two of them lapsed into silence once more. Her mother reached out and turned up the radio, filling the air with blue music.

Lola leaned back and watched the world go by as they pulled into the airport.

* * *

 

The airport was small, and it was still several towns away from where Char lived. Lola came out of the gate and looked around, and spotted her sister almost immediately; she was the only one there. She grinned and waved, and Char waved back, a lazy, relaxed smile on her face.

Char was ten years older than Lola, and she’d been in America for almost five years now. Lola didn’t know much about her work, except that it had something to do with the supernatural and the transcendence. Due to this, she’d moved to the epicentre of the transcendence, Gravity Falls, Oregon, USA.

And now, Lola would be staying here for the summer.

“Hey, sis!” Char greeted, taking Lola’s suitcase and dragging it along behind her, her other arm looped over Lola’s shoulder as the two of them made their way out to Char’s car. It was old and worn-down, easily fifty years old and far too stuffy inside. Lola collapsed into the front seat, looking around her at the scattered papers: notes and receipts and gum wrappers. There was a cheesy bobblehead stuck to the dash in the shape of a caricature Lola recognised as Alcor the Dreambender.

“So, what’ve you been doing here?” Lola asked as her sister connected her phone to the stereo to play music. Char shrugged.

“Oh, you know, a little bit of this, a little bit of that… S’not important. How’ve you been doing, kid? How’s school?” She pressed the button to turn on the engine and they were off.

“Um, okay, I guess. Finished my GCSE’s, now I’m just waiting for results.”

“Oh, _nice_! When’re you getting those?”

“August.”

“Looking forward to it? Think you did well?” Lola shrugged.

“I guess.”

“What’re you doing next? College, right?”

“Mmm. A-Levels.”

“What’re you taking?”

“Supernatural studies,” Lola said, listing the subjects on her finger, “Basic magic, further magic, and creative writing.”

“Ohh, man, that’s gonna be tough. You up to it?”

“Mmm, yeah, I think so! Hey, maybe once I’ve done, I can come help you out with your research?” Lola glanced at her sister with big eyes, and Char grinned.

“Yeah, maybe! That’d be great! -Oh, shush a minute, this’s my favourite!” She reached forward and turned up the volume, tapping her hands on the steering wheel and bopping her head in time to the music. Lola watched in amusement as her sister began to sing, at one point dropping the steering wheel in order to do an intense hand motion.

The car swerved into the trees. Lola yelped, “Char!” and Char cried out, grabbing the wheel and steering them back to the road. Both of them sat in shock for a moment, stiff and white with shock, before bursting into a laughter and racing past a sign that read:

 _WELCOME TO GRAVITY FALLS_.

* * *

 

A week passed and Lola learned that she really, really loved Gravity Falls.

It was a small town, the type where everybody knew everybody, and everyone was really friendly. There were lots of local businesses, many of which had started in the town and expanded outwards (like Candy’s, the world-renowned weapons supplier), but very little outside businesses. The town’s most renowned restaurant had been around since decades before the Transcendence, and the names of many residents lined up with those in history books.

More than that, Gravity Falls was truly home to the supernatural, and it was obvious. Manatours and pixies and nymphs and all other manner of supernatural creatures roamed the streets like any other person, and there were no pro-nats or hunters around (she once asked a resident about this, and was told that the Woodman kept them away. Lola resolved to ask Char about that later). The woods bordering the edge of town were teeming with supernatural life, and sometimes she could’ve sworn the air felt of magic.

For Lola, who had spent her entire childhood reading books about places like this, Gravity Falls was like something straight from a dream.

* * *

 

“Hey, Lo, a friend’s invited us round for tea, is that okay with you?” Char asked one day as Lola was reading by the balcony doors in her sister’s apartment. Outside, rain was falling, spattering down on the time.

“Sure,” she said, glancing up, a single finger keeping her place on the page. “Where’re we going?”

“The Stanley Pines Memorial Library, my friend Gabe got some new materials in last night and wants me to come check them out.”

“Wait, _Pines_? As in, _Transcendence Pines_?”

“That’s the one! We’ll be leaving in-” she checked her watch- “half an hour, just letting you know!”

And forty-five minutes later Lola found herself stood on the doorstep of the famed Stanley Pines Memorial Library, the oldest collection of magical knowledge in the world. Char knocked on the door and it was opened by a man in his mid-twenties, with bronze skin and black hair pulled back into a ponytail. His face was dotted with tiny freckles, and his eyes were a golden-brown colour, like honey. He gave them a warm, relaxed grin and stepped back to let them in.

“Hey, Char!” he greeted, giving her a high-five as they entered. “Is this your sister? I’m Gabriel Oliver-Pines, or just Gabe. Nice to meet you!” Lola smiled back.

“I’m Lola. Hi.” Gabe seemed like a very laid-back person, laughing and joking with Char as he led them into the kitchen. There was food on the magistove, a pasta dish that certainly smelled nice, and four plates out on the side.

“Who else lives here?” Lola questioned, pointing out the plates. Gabe blinked and said,

“Oh, I was gonna invite Alcor around for tea, I hope you don’t mind?”

Lola gaped at him. “Wait… Alcor. As in… _The_ Alcor. Dreambender. Demon. That Alcor?”

“Yeah, he’s my Grunkle. Is that cool, or-?”

Lola glanced at Char, but she seemed unbothered, if extremely amused by Lola’s reaction. In the end, Lola just shrugged. “Yeah, that’s… cool… I guess…” Char snickered and Lola sent a glare at her sister. “Hey, um, do you mind if I take a look around the library?” she asked, and Gabe nodded.

“Oh, yeah, sure, go ahead! Dinner’ll be ready in about ten minutes.”

“Got it.” Lola waved to them as she left the kitchen, making her way down the hall to the main room of the library. The place was a maze of bookshelves, each touching the ceiling and full of so many books they were overflowing. Lola wandered around, tracing their spines with her fingers, peering at the titles. Some of these books were _old_ , dating back to the Transcendence Era and even before. Some authors she recognised, experts in their fields, both modern and not-so-modern, but many were unknown to her, illegible, or weren’t labelled at all. There were other things besides books, too; old newspaper clippings and a box full of ancient- what were they called?- _cassettes_ , and _discs_ , as well as the machinery needed to play them. She wondered whether it still worked.

There was a single shelf that was full of works by the Pines family and close friends. Here, she stopped for a while longer, picking them up and flicking through them. Some of them were simple guidebooks, others detailed little-known and dubious facts about demonology, some were scrappage-style history tomes, and some seemed to be pure fiction based on real life encounters. Three of them were biographies, of Dipper, Mabel and Willow Pines. Lola had never heard of any of them.

After ten minutes she made her way back to the kitchen, and found that there was a fourth person in the room. Alcor the dreambender was leaning against the side, laughing and joking with her sister and her friend. Lola froze, staring at him, but not in fear; no, she was curious, more than anything, if a little apprehensive. After all, Char wouldn’t have brought her here if she were in danger, right?

Gabe caught sight of her first. “Oh, hey Lola! This is Alcor. Alcor, this is Char’s sister, Lola.” Alcor turned to face her and froze. At first he seemed confused, and then recognition dawned on his face, and his eyes (no pupil, golden iris and black sclera) widened.

“Oh, it’s _you_! Um. This is awkward.”

Lola blinked in confusion. “I’m pretty sure we’ve never met,” she said warily. Alcor shook his head.

“Oh, no, I meant, I- crap, I’ve made a mess of this, haven’t I?” Gabe gave Lola an apologetic grin.

“Sorry about him. What he means is, he’s met your soul before, in a previous life. He tends to get a bit weird around people like that- he’s a huge dork really, honest.” Now, Lola didn’t know what dork _meant_ , but she was definitely curious.

“You knew me in a previous life? That’s so cool! Who was I? What did I do? Was I a good person? Were we friends? Did I do anything important?”

“Whoa, slow down,” Alcor said, grinning and revealing too many teeth that were far too sharp. “I can’t tell you that without making a deal, sorry.” Lola sighed in disappointment.

“Okay, that’s fine. Is food ready?”

* * *

 

Alcor was cool.

That wasn’t an opinion Lola had ever expected herself to have, but it was the truth. Alcor was cool, and he knew everything, and he’d often come hang out with Lola in the afternoons while she was out exploring the town and surrounding countryside. She soon mastered the art of making little deals, things like instant teleportation to someplace for a candy bar, or the ability to fly for twenty minutes in exchange for a bag of crisps she had in her pocket. (On a side note, Lola loved flying and she wanted it as a superpower. Like, now).

Yet, even as she made these deals, she didn’t even consider making a deal for information on her past life. It wasn’t because she was scared, or anything like that; rather, she’d forgotten sometime between that first meeting and when Alcor next brought it up as they lazed by a waterfall in a canyon not far from Gravity Falls.

“Well, what would it cost?” she asked curiously. Alcor shrugged.

“The price is negotiable. It could be some old family heirloom, or a treasured item, or a favourite memory… Something with sentimental value.” Lola frowned, thinking.

“Is there anything else I could ask you that you think I’d appreciate more?” she asked. That seemed to take Alcor by surprised, and he floated several inches in the air, face creased in thought.

“I… Yeah, I can think of something you might want to know.”

“And what would that cost?”

“A secret. Something only you, and maybe one or two other people, would know.” Lola paused.

“Yeah, that seems reasonable. So, a secret known only myself, for the aforementioned knowledge you believe I’d appreciate. Deal?”

“Deal,” Alcor said, and shook her hand. “So what’s the secret?”  
“I… When I was four years old, I made my father go insane.” There was a sudden silence between them, and Alcor motioned for her to continue. Lola took a breath. “He… We were playing. And then, suddenly, there was this loud noise, and I got spooked, and suddenly… Everything was colours and emotion and heat and when it was over, he just stared. He didn’t speak or move or even _think_. Three years later, the hospital pulled the plug; he was never gonna get better. And it’s… My fault. Mom and Char, they never knew what happened, and the hospital was stumped, but… I knew.”

Alcor swore. “That’s… _shit_. Maybe I should start looking for you from now on.” Lola frowned.

“What do you mean?”

“Well… You’re an empath, aren’t you? And you have the Sight. It’s not well-known, but there are ways to hurt people using the Sight, ways that have died out over the past few centuries, known by no living soul. But… The life when I knew you, you learned how to use this power… I suppose you could have used it subconsciously, somehow.” Lola stared at him.

“That’s _whoa_ ,” she whispered, and Alcor nodded.

“Yeah… Did you want that knowledge now?” he asked, changing the subject. Lola nodded, brightening up.

“Sure!” she agreed, more than happy to get away from the subject of her dad.

“Well, hold out your hands, like this.” He demonstrated, cupping his hands in front of his chest. Lola did so. “Now… Think about blue. And heat.”

“Oh-kayyy…” Lola said, focusing on what the demon had told her. Just when she was thinking that she looked right stupid and should probably stop, a tiny blue flame burst to life in her cupped hands.

She let out a startled yelp.

The fire died and Lola stared at her hands, unburnt and unharmed, shaking before her, perfectly fine. She looked up at Alcor, eyes wide. “That’s whoa,” she said again.

“Yeah…” The demon said. Then, he went on to explain, “Sometimes, deals I make with souls can have lasting effects. Like Henry’s reincarnations always have his antlers, whether physical or spiritual, and your reincarnations have the power to call flame.” Lola blinked.

“That’s… That’s _so cool_! How come I didn’t figure this out before now?” She held up her hand again and willed the flame to it, watching it lick at her pale skin.

“I put a cap on it, back in your second reincarnation since I knew you… You can only use it once I’ve unlocked it for you. To stop you burning down everything.” Lola grinned.

“Wicked. Wait until I show Char, she’s gonna be so _jealous_!”

* * *

 

Char was jealous, if a little concerned. Two days later, they returned to the library for tea again, to commemorate the fifth week of summer and the end of Lola’s stay in the US. It was fun; Gabe invited round some friends that Lola had made in the village and surrounding woods, and there was enough food to feed a king and all his servants (Lola felt a little guilty that they’d gone to such lengths for her, but they seemed so happy that she didn’t protest). Alcor was there too, in a human form the same age as her sister, using the moniker “Tyrone”. Apparently it was a common thing, because neither her sister nor her friend seemed bothered. Seeing this, Lola just rolled with it.

Finally, the guests all left and Char and Gabe were clearing away everything. Alcor was nowhere to be seen, so Lola set off to look for him, and found him in the library, waiting for her by the Pines’ shelf.

“I want you to take some stuff with you,” he told her. “I- uh, well.” He reached behind him and pulled out a black cloth and leather-bound book from behind his back. Lola took them curiously, turning over the cloth to see the summoning circle stitched into it. “If you ever need me, just prick your finger and call for me.”

Lola smiled, folding up the cloth and tucking it inside the cover. “Thanks,” she said warmly. He nodded.

“Well, I should be going now- I promised Beth I’d meet her around now. It was great to see you again.”

“It was great to meet you,” Lola agreed. “See you next summer?” He nodded, gave her a last grin, and vanished from existence.

“Lola, you ready to go?” Char called. Lola nodded, spinning on one heel and trotting over to her sister.

“Yeah,” she said, “Let’s go home.”

* * *

 

High up in the sky, surrounded by fluffy white clouds and worn-out passengers, Lola opened the book Alcor had given her. The first few pages were blank, but eventually she came upon a title page. It was crude, written in loopy handwriting with one of those weird old pens; jelly pens, she thought they were called? Either way, the page was covered in obnoxious colours and doodles and smelled faintly of chemicals. The words, which took her a moment to read because of the brightness and the age of the text, read: _WILLOW’S GUIDE TO ~~LIFE THE SUPERNATURAL~~ BEING WILLOW PINES_.

Curious, she turned the page, to find a foreword written in red ink:

_My life is very strange, but that’s probably because my family is very strange, and this town is very strange, and I myself are very strange. Oh, and my uncle is Alcor the Dreambender, so that probably has something to do with it. This book is a diary, but it’s also a guide, if anyone in the future should ever need a guide on how to deal with my demon uncle, the Sight, or, you know, wielding blue flames. As much as I doubt anyone would need that. But, if you’re reading this, maybe you’ll get a laugh out of it. My life’s pretty ridiculous, after all. I won’t blame you if you laugh, honest._

_-Willow Pines, 14_

Lola grinned, and sat back in her seat, turning the page and beginning to read.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Note: at the beginning of this chapter, I describe the music playing "blue". This is less to do with Lola's Sight and more due to the fact that I have synesthesia and don't know how else to describe the music I'm imagining. Just thought I'd clear that up.


End file.
